Pocket Change
by DragonMaster65
Summary: Short story about fire flakes and copper pieces. Zutara Week 2010, Prompt: Change. R&R :


"Oh man," Sokka moaned. "Does anyone have a spare copper piece? Fire flakes went up in price since last week." He turned and gave a pitiful glance at the gaang, who were mostly scattered about the marketplace as to divert suspicion. It was just days before the Comet's arrival and they'd ventured from their safe-haven to buy food.

Zuko rolled his eyes and passed Sokka a handful of coins. "Keep the change," he muttered as he tugged more on the hood draped over his head. Sokka's face lit up and he snatched the basket of food from the stall, tossing the last coin to the flabbergasted shopkeeper. Zuko reached in and snagged a handful of fire flakes, much to Sokka's dismay.

"Hey! No eating right now, Hotman," he complained. Zuko only shrugged, continuing to munch on his snatched snack as if to say, why shouldn't I? Sokka sighed heavily, passing Katara the food to be packed in the pack she had slung over her shoulder. "I guess you can eat those, since you did technically buy them," he compromised.

Katara scoffed, her eyes flickering to Zuko for a moment before darting away to watch a group of girls play Catudhatu*. "Why do you guys even _like_ fire flakes?" she drawled. "Aren't they too spicy? I know I don't really care for them."

Aang and Toph joined them now as they walked further away from the stalls and booths of the market. Aang bent the air around Zuko's hands to whisk the remaining flakes away into his mouth. Smiling and with his mouth half full he mumbled, "Why don't you like them Katara? They're great, really! Not too spicy at all."

She scowled at Zuko, who'd snagged another handful of the flakes. "I just don't," she insisted.

ooOOooOOooOOooOOoo

The Ember Island Players really were quite terrible, to be honest. The girl playing Katara had to be at least twice her age, if not her weight, and Zuko's actor was flat, at best. The intermissions were- beyond any doubt Zuko had- the best parts.

"I'm going to go get something to snack on," he said to no one in particular. Toph only vaguely nodded, the rest of the crew- minus a missing Sokka and Suki, who were backstage- said nothing. Aang and Katara hadn't spoken to each other ever since she came back from finding him in a huff. Zuko scowled, tugged his cloak on nervously, and went to find the snack vendor.

Within a few minutes he returned empty handed. Toph flopped onto her back on the stairs they were sitting on and "stared" at him for a minute. "Nothin' good to eat, Sparky?" she questioned. "Or are the snacks here not good enough for hotman royalty?"

"Haha very funny," Zuko replied sarcastically. "The prices are ridiculous. I'm not that hungry." Toph squinted at him with her white-green eyes. She could tell he was lying, at least about the hungry part if not about prices being far too expensive.

When Aang twitched his head yet again from staring at the back of Katara's, she finally moved from her crouch on the stairs. She stood abruptly, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. "Well I just want to see what the rest of this place looks like. And maybe grab some fire flakes," she added quietly.

"Well Twinkletoes and I can just try to strategize the best way to raze this place to the ground," Toph said lightly. Katara walked out, her arms crossed in front of her chest. She heard someone with a low voice say, "I'll make sure she doesn't get lost."

She ignored the footsteps following her and stood in line for fire flakes. She counted to five in her head, waiting for Zuko to start talking. "You don't actually like fire flakes, Katara," he murmured from behind her, idly staring around at anywhere but her.

She frowned, then turned to look at the banished prince. "I'm just getting them so you'll shut up about being hungry," she mumbled, her face flushing slightly. She added, "Nothing more."

A tense silence fell between them. People moved up in line and Katara found herself staring at the pricelist before she was nose to nose with the booth keeper. "Hello there!" he said cheerily. "What can I do ya for, pretty miss?" She snorted, moving back quickly and bumping into Zuko.

He nonchalantly slipped an arm around her shoulder and slid a silver piece onto the table. "Fire flakes, please," he said coolly, glaring at the overbearing clerk. The scrawny boy yelled over his shoulder for the order and backed away. Zuko, keeping the guise of being sweet to Katara, put his mouth near her ear and whispered not-so-sweetly, "Got any spare change? It's a silver and two coppers for fire flakes."

She giggled and passed him the coins, wrapping her arm around his waist. "You owe me one, hotman."

ooOOooOOooOOoo

**Author's Note:**

Day 2 of Zutara Week: Change

Real short but sweet :) Rather than choosing to do it about Zuko changing or them physically changing their clothes or anything, I chose pocket change. Reviews? :D

Oh, and Catudhatu is this:

*-..com/tumblr_l67lmzEFWr1qblzsno1_?AWSAccessKeyId=0RYTHV9YYQ4W5Q3HQMG2&Expires=1280350311&Signature=LsFaBlKWZ1qbKwNncvb8WYxzO3c%3


End file.
